Jack Curtis, starting quarterback at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, has been diagnosed with late-Stage II unfavorable Hodgkin's lymphoma.

"[It was] earth-shattering, to be honest," Jack Curtis said. "Especially being young, you hear the word cancer and immediately think the worst."

Early June of this year, back home in Charlotte, North Carolina, Jack Curtis was having heart attack-like pains.

"The worst one happened at night," Jack Curtis said. "I really thought I was gonna — something really bad was gonna happen."

Within the week, he was biopsied. A tumor the size of an egg was removed. Then chemo began. 

Doctors said it would be practically impossible to play his senior season of football, but he's doing it anyway. 

"He's like, 'I'm going to be alright and I'm playing,'" said Carleton head football coach Tom Journell. "I'm like, 'Wait a second here. I just want to make sure you're alright.' He's battled." 

The latest scans found no active lymphoma cells — a great sign — but it's much too soon to declare victory. Jack Curtis is likely not even halfway through treatment. He gets chemotherapy every other week. 

Still, he's started and played in the Knights' first two games.

"I think the best way to put it is I feel like a Hummer," Jack Curtis said. "I look big and strong, and I am big and strong. But I'm probably getting like 4 miles to the gallon. Just the amount of plays, not necessarily what happens each play. When I come back to the sideline after each drive, I have to sit down on the bench immediately, drink water. But when I'm on the field, the adrenaline helps me out."

His mom, Amy Curtis, feels it from Carleton's big bleachers. The question is asked: Is there an added worry when there's a hit?

"Oh, 100%, 1,000%," said Amy Curtis. "We just have to trust in him and the medical staff and then the O-line, too." 

His offensive line and entire contingent of teammates are there to support while gaining perspective.

"It's almost impossible not to be inspired," said left guard Declan Smith. "It makes you think about all the things you're annoyed about, little things that you're like, 'I gotta do that today?' It's like, they seem a little smaller when you put them into comparison with all the things Jack's going through."

This weekend is Carleton's crosstown rivalry game with St. Olaf. The Knights are aiming to take back the Goat and Cereal Bowl trophies. Jack Curtis will barely practice, because on Monday, he was getting another round of chemo. 

"I've been trying to walk that line between asking for help and not asking for too much help, because I am blessed to be able to play. I know there's a lot of people who have cancer at much more aggressive stages," Jack Curtis said. "This is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life." 

Already, Jack Curtis has noticed a change in how he plays football — how and why he competes. 

"It's been nostalgic for me stepping on the field," he said. "Remembering things that happened in my past games and hoping to make memories with my receivers going forward in this season. Building that memory bank, so when I'm sitting in the chemo chair, I can think of those good times and why I'm doing this." 

So maybe it's less about leaving it all out there, and more about taking it all in — capturing what the field, football and life have to offer.